More than 3,800 Indian nationals were deported from the US in 2025, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The figures include 3,414 Indians deported through Washington till mid-December, according to the data shared in a tabulated form in a written response to a query by Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh.
Congress member Randeep Singh Surjewala asked for the number of Indian nationals deported from the United States and other countries during the last five years, preventive measures including registration or licensing of travel agencies and border coordination taken to protect vulnerable youth, and whether any targets or timelines have been fixed to reduce the illegal "Dunki route" migration.
The phrase "donkey route" or "Dunki route" refers to the route used for illegal immigration, largely in the context of North America.
In 2025, over 3,800 Indian nationals were deported from the US, according to the data shared in the written response.
The tabulated data also included locations of Indian consulates in the US and the corresponding number of deportations in 2025, viz, consulates of India in New York (47), Atlanta (31), Houston (234), San Francisco (49) and Seattle (31).
Singh said the government of India works in close coordination with the US and other foreign governments on all matters pertaining to the deportation of Indian citizens.
"Such deportations are subject to an unambiguous verification of their Indian nationality," he said.
The government is in constant dialogue with the US government regarding the need for "humane treatment" of Indian nationals during such deportation operations. "We have registered our concerns with the US authorities, particularly with respect to the use of restraints on the deportees, especially women and children," the MoS said.
Based on the accounts and testimonies given by returning deportees, the central and respective state governments along with the relevant law enforcement agencies have registered a number of cases, and investigations as well as actions are ongoing against several illegal recruitment agents, criminal facilitators and human trafficking syndicates that run these rackets, the government said.
Surjewala, a Rajya Sabha member, later also shared on X screenshots of some of the pages of the written response that runs into 15 pages.
According to the tabulated data, 4,335 Indian nationals were deported from Saudi Arabia through the embassy in Riyadh in 2025 and 8,921 through the consulate in Jeddah last year.
Also, 1,662 Indian nationals were deported from the UAE through the embassy in Abu Dhabi in 2025 and 7,896 through the consulate in Dubai last year, according to the data.
And, 1,605 Indian nationals were deported from Myanmar in 2025, it says.
The government said it accords utmost priority to the safety, security and well-being of Indian nationals proceeding for employment abroad. According to The Emigration Act 1983, no person or agency can function as a recruiting agent (RA) without a valid licence issued by the registering authority who is the Protector General of Emigrants.
The ministry issues advisories through eMigrate portal, social media handles and other modes of publicity about the perils of fake job rackets and ways to prevent the same. Till December 2025, "a total of 3,505 unregistered agents in the country have been notified on the eMigrate portal", he said.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a separate query, was also asked whether Indian drivers have been adversely affected in terms of employment due to "new visa or transport security regulations" recently implemented by the US.
"There is no official data available on the number of Indian nationals working in the US as truck or heavy vehicle drivers," Singh said.
On September 29, 2025, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an emergency interim final rule that changes how the US states issue and monitor non-domiciled Commercial Driver's Licences (CDLs) and Commercial Learner's Permits (CLPs), he said.
"The rule follows a nationwide audit that uncovered widespread noncompliance, weak oversight and several fatal crashes involving drivers with invalid or expired CDLs. While the DOT emergency rule aimed to prevent fraud, a nationwide court stay was granted in November 2025, temporarily pausing some of these strict restrictions while legal challenges proceed," he added.
Despite the stay, many states have started to implement stricter checks. Regulations relating to the issuance of visas and employment of foreign nationals in the US fall within the sovereign jurisdiction of the government of the US, Singh said.
The welfare of the Indian community in the US is of the highest priority for the government. Indian mission and posts in the US provide consular assistance on priority to grievances and distress calls through 24x7 emergency helplines, walk-ins, emails, social media and the MADAD portal.
In response to another query, the government said it has been made aware of instances where dubious firms involved in fake recruitment job offers have lured Indian nationals, mostly through social media channels to South-East Asian countries including Cambodia, Myanmar and Lao PDR, and made them to carry out cybercrime and other fraudulent activities from scam centres operating in these countries.
According to data shared in the response, the number of Indian nationals rescued in 2025 from these countries stood at 1,300 (Cambodia), 1,421 (Lao PDR) and 1,594 (Myanmar).
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